- Safiu Kehinde
Lagos and other parts of Nigeria are on the verge of another lengthy period of fuel scarcity as tanker drivers embarked on strike.
The drivers reportedly abandoned fuel loading as they cited incessant harassment by Lagos state government officials and the Federal Ministry of Transportation.
Sequel to the development, telecommunications companies had also raised concern over the possibility of network blackout on account of the strike.
The telcos claimed that tanker drivers’ strike action could hinder diesel supply thereby threatening the operations of mobile and internet services.
According to report, the truck drivers were not able to load fuel on Saturday and Sunday which sparked the fears of scarcity in Lagos and other states.
The National President of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, Yusuf Othman, in a recent interview, alleged that members of his association were often assaulted and harassed by government officials for no known reason.
He also alleged that routinely trucks were often seized and damaged by the government officials.
“The problem we have now is that the tax force in Lagos State has towed our trucks and they are beating our drivers, they damaged the vehicle of the union. So, because of that, there was no loading yesterday (Saturday and there is no loading today (Sunday). I don’t know whether there will be any form of loading tomorrow in Lagos environment. The union and the tax force are disturbing us,” Othman stated.
Reacting, the Lagos state government explained that it was merely enforcing its e-call-up system, warning that attempts to blackmail the state government would not work.